We show that even a relatively small number of poles of
a sequence of orthogonal rational functions approaching the interval of orthogonality, can prevent their Christoffel functions from having the expected asymptotics. We also establish a sufficient condition on the rate for such asymptotics, provided the rate of approach of the poles is sufficiently slow. This provides a supplement to recent results of the authors where poles were assumed to stay away from the interval of orthogonality.